Shush
by Incidental Vegan Cannibal
Summary: Recommending books is David's favorite part of being a librarian. And if those recommendations lead to tying up a few enthusiastic teen girls in his secret bondage room, well... he's gotten pretty good at silencing people over the years. Modern AU where cordyceps doesn't exist. Consensual underage relationship with bondage and (later) creepy emotional and physical abuse.
1. Chapter 1

She was just shy of five feet, standing on her tiptoes in her Converses and leaning onto the circulation desk. A tangled pair of orange earbuds poked out of her backpack's zipper, a wilted neon bud sprouting from Northface camo. David felt up her lean, denim-covered legs with his eyes before walking over to her.

"Hi there," he said. "What can I help you with today?"

"I want to return this book." She slid the gray paperback across the desk. "If you can call it that."

David raised an eyebrow as he scanned the book's barcode. "I don't think kids are supposed to read this one."

"No one should read this one," the girl said. "It's terrible! I can't believe my mom liked it so much."

"You read it with your mom?"

"Duh, obviously not," she said. "My mom said I wasn't allowed to read it, which is why I gave it five chapters instead of one. But the writing sucks so much that I'd rather obey my mom, and that's saying something."

David chuckled. "I don't think most people read it for the prose."

"Well, if I wanted shitty books, I could have saved myself the walk and re-read Nancy Drew at the school library." She pouted. "Do you have any books that are like this but less awful?"

"Sure," David said. "We've got plenty of romance books."

"Not romance." She leaned across the counter, lowering her voice. "I want books about girls getting tied up and... you know, other stuff."

As he looked down into her freckled face, he felt like someone had replaced his heart with an overcaffeinated grasshopper. Her hazel eyes gleamed behind a few strands of her side-swept auburn bangs. It reminded him of the view from his aunt's porch: the lake, mirroring all that green summer foliage, shining through the branches. He wet his lips with the tip of tongue.

"I think I know something you might like," he said. "Come with me."

She trotted along behind him, her shoes just a little too loud on the tile sections of the floor.

"Do you like Anne Rice?" he asked.

"Is she the one who wrote the vampire books?" the girl asked.

"Yes."

"I haven't read them, but I do like vampires," she said. "Oh my god, do her books have the tying up stuff in them?!"

"Not her vampire books, as far as I know," David said. "But one of her other series is pretty popular."

Ten minutes later, he scanned her library card and learned her name.

"Enjoy the book, Elizabeth."

"Ellie," she said, tucking The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty into her backpack. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Carver."

"You can call me David," he said.

"Okay. Bye, David!" She waved as she walked out the library doors.

James, the red-headed library assistant, tossed his fast food bag into the trashcan and shook his head. "Again?" he asked in an undertone. "I leave for thirty minutes, and you give erotica to another middle-schooler? I bet she was born after 2000."

"'Age is just a number,'" David quipped.

"Oh, yeah, and jail is just a room."

David smirked. "Are you finally going to tattle on me?"

"Not if you proofread my research paper," James said.

"You know I'd do that anyway. Which class?"

"Cataloging and Classification." James started sorting the books on the reshelving cart. "And if you buy me a beer at the indie film festival tomorrow, I'll make sure no one but you helps out your new little friend."

"Deal."

o0o0o

Ellie returned the book two days later, and James kept his word by sending his fellow desk clerk to reshelve.

"How did you like it?" David asked, scanning the back of the book.

"It was pretty hot," Ellie said. "The plot was boring, though. I wish there was something like it but with more magical creatures and action and stuff."

"I know a series like that, but it gets a little extreme later on. Not sure you'll like it."

"I'll try anything once," she said, all eager and oblivious to the effect her words had on him.

David imagined perching on the step-stool and tossing her over his lap, spanking her through her jeans for making him so hard. That fantasy only made his problem worse, however.

"We have a lot of the books, but not all of them," he warned her. "I have the whole collection, though. If you like them and run out of books, I'll loan you the rest."

"Sweet, thanks!"

o0o0o

She started visiting the library every afternoon, sometimes to check out books, but increasingly more often to do homework or chat with David while he worked. He found himself staying at the library after work most days, showing Ellie how to (properly) use Wikipedia to find sources or adding vocative commas to her English papers.

Near the end of September, he brought two forks and a double helping of his dinner in a Tupperware container in his lunch bag. They sat on the bench in front of the library and watched the fountain while they ate cold beef stroganoff.

"This is way better than what I usually eat," Ellie said, digging into the shared bowl.

"Really?" David asked. "What do you usually eat?"

"Cereal."

"For dinner?"

"Yeah," she said. "My mom can't really cook, and she leaves for work before dinner, so I have a grocery budget. I need the money for other stuff, though, so I just eat cereal unless I'm going out with friends. Which is never, lately."

"What kind of things are you buying instead of groceries?" David asked.

"Why?"

"I'm just curious."

"I don't know. Whatever I need. Back in Boston, I bought stuff to fit in with my friends, like movie tickets and jeans that didn't come from Goodwill." She took a bite of stroganoff. "I'm saving up for a Kindle right now. Then I could read all the books I wanted without my mom seeing the cover and freaking out on me."

"Has that happened?" David asked.

"Yeah, she didn't like that last book I brought home." Ellie shrugged. "I told her it was for an extra credit project, and she dropped it."

As the days grew chillier, dusk crept up earlier into the afternoon. Reports of muggings and rapes in Denver gave David an excuse to drive Ellie home each night, even though their tiny city was ranked the safest in Colorado. Ellie was too happy about not having to walk to question his selfish logic.

"Don't you have any friends your own age?" he finally asked her one Saturday afternoon, as the two of them scattered fake autumn leaves across the tops of the children's shelves.

"Not around here," she said. "All my old friends are back in Boston. I moved here right before school started, but everyone has known each other since kindergarten. Too many cliques."

"Yeah, people can be awfully cliquish around here," he said. "What are you doing for Halloween?"

"I dunno." She pouted at the cotton cobwebs. "Probably throw eggs and toilet paper at houses until the police take me to my mom's work so I can embarrass her and get grounded for a year. That's usually what I end up doing."

"Darn."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to a masquerade party, and I was hoping you'd come along for moral support. I'm allowed to bring a date."

She stood up straight. "Masquerade party? With the masks and stuff?"

"That's it."

"Oh! Oh!" She hopped up and down. "I wanna go! I've never been to one!" She stood still, and her expression fell. "I don't know if I can afford a costume, though."

"Don't be silly," David said. "I invited you. I'll make sure you have whatever costume you want."

"Who are you going as?" she asked. "You are going as a book character, right?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," he admitted. "Any ideas?"

"Characters from Dracula?" she suggested.

"Sure," he said, delighted that she'd enjoyed his recommendation for a vampire book. "Mina and Van Helsing?"

"No, I don't want to be Mina. I want to be Lucy."

"She doesn't make it halfway through the book."

"I don't care," Ellie said. "I was talking about it with my English teacher after class, and she said-"

"You talk to your English teacher outside of class now?" David interrupted, feeling a little burst of pride.

"Yeah, she mentioned Dracula in class right after I finished the book, so I wanted to talk to her about it. Anyway, she agrees with me that Lucy was in love with Mina more than any of the guys who proposed to her."

David rubbed his chin stubble. "It's been a while since I read it, but I remember wondering about that, myself."

"Yeah, and I can't think of any other not-straight girls in old books, so I want to be Lucy."

"A lot of people read Camilla as being a lesbian vampire story."

"Really? Can I check that one out?"

"Of course, but I'm not sure we can pull off characters from that book."

Ellie shrugged. "That's cool. I still want to be Lucy."

"And whom should I be?"

She shivered. "Whom? Careful, buddy, or they'll lock you up for talking dirty to a minor."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Anyway, maybe you should be the count."

"If that's what you want." David scattered some plastic spiders over the leaves.

"Well, what I want is for my mom to stop being a bitch, but I'll settle for a kickass masquerade party." Ellie picked up one of the spiders and scowled at it.

"What did she do this time?" he asked.

"Oh, she's just back on her college kick. She snooped through my backpack and found my last Algebra test, so she screamed at me about how I'm gonna flunk out of state college if I go at all, and then I'm gonna work at McDonald's for the rest of my life."

"That's ridiculous. You're one of the smartest teenagers I've ever met."

"I suck at math and science, though."

"But you have strengths in other subjects, like English. The right colleges will be falling all over each other trying to recruit you."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "My mom still won't be happy. She'll never be happy with me. I'm just not Harvard material."

"Then fuck Harvard," he said, eliciting a delighted gasp from her. "A full ride to Harvard is useless if it doesn't meet your needs. You'd probably be happier at a smaller school, anyway. We should go visit some of the private liberal arts schools around here."

"You mean the really expensive ones?"

"They have scholarships. And you're a good writer. If you can write well, you can write your own ticket," he said. "You know, I'll help you write your application essays, whenever you're ready."

"Really?"

"Of course."

She hugged him tightly. He rubbed her back, enjoying the warmth her body was radiating through his sweater.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks before the Halloween party, Ellie was moping around the costume shop, knocking things over with her puffy skirt. David finally grabbed her shoulders and held her in front of the mirror.

"That's enough destruction for one day," he said. "What's wrong? I expected you to be knocking things over because you were bouncing off the walls, not because you're too depressed to notice."

Ellie sighed. "My mom is leaving Thursday for an all-weekend girls' retreat, whatever that means." She fiddled with the bodice. "I know I sleep alone in the house pretty much every night, but it's just creepier knowing my mom is hundreds of miles away. And Friday is a teacher workday, so I won't even have school to distract me."

David looked around to make sure no one was close enough to listen. "You could sleep at my house. I have a guest bedroom."

"Really?" Her face lit up. "That would be awesome!"

"I'll even cook for you. What's your favorite food?"

"Pizza. But I'll accept some fancy-ass mac and cheese."

"I'll see what I can do." An idea formed in his head. "Also, I have a surprise for you. Bring nice clothes."

"What kind of surprise?"

"The good kind."

"Oh, come on!"

"Just bring nice clothes and some cute shoes you don't mind walking around in."

He picked her up four nights later, tossing her small, floral-printed duffel into the back seat of his dented Honda Accord. Ellie hopped into the car like it belonged to her, kicking the light dusting of snow off her sneakers before sticking them on the floorboard. David closed her door for her and slid into the driver's seat.

"I don't think I remember it ever snowing before Halloween in Boston," Ellie remarked. "Maybe, like, once. It just rains a lot in October."

"A little snow isn't unusual for this time of year," David said. "It probably won't pile up, though. It better not. We've got a long drive tomorrow."

"Ooh," Ellie said. "Where are we going?"

"I told you, it's a surprise."

"Oh, all right." Ellie turned up the heat.

Once they reached his house, he turned on the kitchen radio, rolled up his sleeves, and washed his hands. Ellie sat on a barstool to keep him company.

"You want something to drink?" he asked, filling a pot with water.

"Like soda?"

"Like whatever you want. I won't tell if you don't."

She giggled. "What do you have?"

"Water, juice, milk, a few different wines." He set the pot on a burner.

"I don't think I like wine," she said. "I had it once, and it tasted like bug spray."

He pulled a dusty bottle of prosecco from his wine rack. "You'll like this one," he said, twisting the corkscrew into the stopper. "It's bubbly."

"Like Champagne?"

"My sister would have a heart attack if she heard you say that, but yes." He popped the cork out and poured the foaming wine into his two nicest wine glasses. "It's a little sweeter than Champagne."

Ellie sniffed inside the glass before taking a sip. She moved her lips like a goldfish, squinting her eyes in thought as she rubbed her tongue over the top of her mouth.

"It's not bad," she said, taking another sip. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Italian food," David said. "Is that all right?"

"Duh. Everyone loves Italian food."

"You said you'd settle for 'fancy-ass mac and cheese,' so that's what you're getting." He dropped butter into a saucepan to start the roux. "You excited to have the day off tomorrow?"

"Hell yeah!" she said. "Especially because I'm doing something other than lying around the house reading. Not that I don't enjoy doing that, but-"

"It gets old when it's all you do," David finished for her. "I've been in a rut lately. It seems like all I do is work, read, and work on my book."

Ellie sat straight up on her barstool. "You write? I wanna read something!"

"Well, I do have a few chapters from a book I'm working on..."

While the pasta was bubbling in the pot, he printed off an excerpt and tried not to hover while she read it.

"This is really good," she said a few moments later, sipping her wine. "It's like a real book."

"It's still a rough draft," he said. In reality, he had polished it a dozen times, just in case she'd asked to read something.

When she turned over the last page, he cleared his throat.

"What did you think?" he asked.

"It was pretty hot," she said. "I liked the part where he used the feather on her. Hang on- 'He traced invisible patterns on her with the tip of the feather, teasing every nerve in her squirming body until it drew wetness from her like ink into a quill.' Super fucking poetic. I almost got up and locked myself in the bathroom to finish it."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Well, it is one, so good."

David topped off her prosecco. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

She looked slightly alarmed. "Okay..."

"I know you dated a girl in Boston." He stirred the alfredo sauce to keep from having to look her in the eye. "Do you only like girls?"

"It's complicated," she said. "I don't know how to really explain it."

"We have time."

"Well, I like the idea of guys. I've had crushes on plenty of guys in books, and I get more turned on by the idea of having sex with a guy than a girl," she said. "But in real life, I haven't found any guys I think are hot. I look at the topless guys in my friends' magazines, and they don't do anything for me. So yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm gay, but the internet says not to worry about labels, so I'm open to whatever my heart says. Or whatever my hooha says."

"Don't call it that," David said. "You sound like a toddler."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "What should I say instead, then?"

"Vagina."

"Gross. I'm not saying that. I'll just call it my pussy." She gave him that look, half challenging and half playful, like she expected him to hate that even worse than 'hooha.'

"If you want to sound cheap and uneducated, go right ahead. I say, if you're going to use vulgar language, you might as well go all out and say 'cunt.'"

"Is that a swear word?"

"Yes. And it's much, much worse than 'pussy,' which is probably why you've never heard it."

"See, this is why I love being with you." She stuck her foot out to nudge his hip. "I learn something new every time."

He set the heat on low and turned his attention to her, leaning on the island.

"You love being with me?" he asked. Their faces were so close that his words rustled her bangs like branches in a breeze.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Ellie said, ducking her head.

"Tell me."

"I like hanging out with you. You're the only grownup who's ever talked to me like they respected me. And you don't try to shelter me from the things I want to learn about, like sex. You tell me the truth and give awesome book recommendations. The rest of my life sucks, but when I'm around you... I..."

She faltered, and he kissed her. She recoiled at first, but as he started to pull away and apologize, she grabbed him and kissed him back. It took every bit of restraint he'd ever had to not slide his hands under her sweater. When she started moaning softly into his mouth, he had to push her away to keep from taking her right there on the island.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "I can't believe we just did that."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"No, it's... you're a really good kisser." She touched her lips. "I think your water is boiling over, though."

He snatched up the excuse to immerse himself in cooking, giving both of them a few moments to collect themselves. By the time he set the table and filled their plates, Ellie couldn't even make eye contact with him. David glanced at her a few times while she ate, trying to gauge whether she would fabricate an excuse to go home and never see him again. She didn't speak more than five words all through dinner, and those were just, "Wow, that looks so amazing!" in response to dessert.

"I'm sorry," he said again as she scraped the last of her tiramisu out of the dish. "I shouldn't have done that. I never wanted to make things awkward between us."

Ellie scooted her chair back without answering. He thought for sure she was going to grab her belongings and walk out, but she padded over to his chair.

"I liked it," she said. "No one's ever kissed me like that before. I just don't want to get you in trouble. You're older than my dad. Which is okay! I like older men, I think. I'm just scared."

He stroked her cheek. "I don't want you to be scared."

"Then maybe you should take my mind off of it."

He kissed her again, this time tangling his fingers in her hair. She climbed onto his lap, her legs dangling on either side of him. She had to feel his erection underneath her, through both of their pants, but she didn't panic or move away from it. He cupped the side of her breast, an accident, he pretended, but she still didn't flinch. Damn, he'd picked a good one.

"I want to show you something," he murmured into her cheek. "You have to promise not to tell anyone, though."

"Is it your dick?" she asked.

He snorted. "No, I promise."

"Okay, show me."

He led her down the hall to a locked door. He stuck his key in and turned it, stepping inside and flipping on the light. Ellie followed him.

"Holy fucking shit," she whispered. She looked like she was trying to decide whether to run away or climb onto one of the dungeon-like devices.

He took her hand so she wouldn't flee. "My ex was really into this sort of thing," he lied. "She left me for someone with a better collection, so this stuff has been collecting dust for months. I thought you might be interested in seeing it."

"You thought right." She circled the room, running her hands over everything. "Is this a real whip?"

"Yes."

"Do you ever torture bad guys in here?"

"No, only bad girls."

She giggled nervously at that. She was still pacing, trying to hide her uneasy energy. He stood near the piece of furniture she kept gravitating toward: the padded table.

"Want to try this one out?" He showed her the cuffs attached to it, trying to gauge her nervousness versus interest.

If she seemed too apprehensive, he would quickly add, 'You can tie me up on it, if you want.' She climbed on the table without any further prompting, however.

"Do I lie on my stomach, or my back, or what?"

"Whatever you're comfortable with."

She lay on her back, and David loosely strapped her hands to the top of the bench. He'd formulated this plan in his head weeks ago. It was a long and complex plan, accounting for every contingency. At his current juncture, he'd planned on rewarding her for spending time playing on the furniture until she was trained like a rat in a cage. But, true to her nature, Ellie took his plan and threw it out the window without even knowing what she was doing.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" she asked.

He couldn't think of a response that would work either way, so he simply said, "Why do you ask?"

"Because..." She swallowed hard. "I really, really want you to fuck me right now, but I don't want to ask for it because I know you could go to jail, so I don't want to seem like I don't care about you-"

He cut her off by kissing her. She squirmed in her restraints and made a tiny noise of excitement.

"Do you want me to untie you for this?" he asked.

"No way. Unless you want to tie me to something else instead."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given how we met." He unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them off her legs.

He secured her ankles to the bars extending from the bottom of the table, pulling off each sock by pinching it near the toes. She wiggled her sparkly green toes in his face. He grabbed a knife from his collection on the wall and cut off her blue cotton panties, revealing sparse curls just a little darker than her head. He buried his face in them, nearly drowning in her excitement.

"Oh, oh fuck!" She tried to kick her legs, but the cuffs held. "Oh!"

He licked her mercilessly, thoroughly enjoying his ability to make her squeal. He wiggled one finger inside her, then a second, and she rewarded him with a torrent of wetness and curse words.

When his jaw finally grew tired, he stood up and unzipped his pants. "Have you ever done this before?"

"My ex got three fingers inside of me once," she said, still breathless. "I'll be fine. "

He took it slow anyway. He wanted her to enjoy it so much she came back and begged for more. He kissed her all over as he pushed against her, massaging her neck until she relaxed and took him into her body.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

She groaned loudly.

"Is that good?"

"I've never been this turned on in my entire life," she said. "Oh, fuck..."

Her ankles were strapped in near his shoulders, so he tickled the soles of her tiny feet.

"Oh my god, it's torture!" she laughed, her toes twitching. "Stop, stop, please!"

He stopped, even though she'd become substantially more pink-cheeked and slick from the tickling. He went back to stroking her sensitive nub, and the flush spread to her entire face and chest.

"Oh god, oh god," she whimpered. "Keep doing that."

He was happy to obey her. A few minutes later, her back raised off the bench as she swore. Her spasming around him was too much, and he sagged on top of her a few seconds later.

"Wait, don't come inside me!" Ellie raised her head off the bench. "I'm not on the pill!"

"It's okay," he said. "I used a condom."

"Oh." Her head fell back against the padding. "Thanks. How very gentlemanly of you. And responsible."

"I try."

Or, more accurately, he tried not to leave any DNA evidence inside his underage conquests. He took care of the condom before untying her. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, her whole body trembling.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Peachy."

"Ready for bed?"

"Actually, do you mind if I take a bath?"

He carried her to the master bathroom and set her in the garden tub. As the water thundered onto the plug, he drizzled bubble bath over her feet and the white porcelain.

"This is a really fucking big bathtub," she said, trying to touch the other end with her toes. "You wanna get in with me?"

He climbed in behind her before she could change her mind. She went limp on top of him, leaning her head back onto his shoulder. He cupped his hand and scooped water over her like she was a sandy, stranded dolphin.

"That was really fucking great," she said to the ceiling.

He kissed her jaw. "Was it?"

"Yeah! I mean, didn't you think so?"

"Sure," he said. "I love when a girl enjoys herself."

He explored her body with his soapy fingers under the guise of cleaning her. She made a few appreciative noises, but she was still floppy and useless from her earlier orgasm.

"I wish I could tell someone about this," she finally said. "That was probably the hottest thing I've ever done, and I can't even talk about it."

"You get used to it," David said, realizing his mistake too late.

"What, you've done this before?"

"I dated one of my professors in college," he lied.

"Oh." She sighed. "Well, it's not like I really have anyone to tell, anyway. I'm not that close to any of my old Boston friends."

"You'll make new friends," David assured her.

"Whatever. You don't have to bullshit me."

"I'm not. You're smart and fun and outgoing. You'll make friends soon."

"Uh huh."

She drifted to sleep on top of him a moment later, still sighing happily. He admired the view until his toes and fingers wrinkled up. She woke up as soon as he shifted to pull the plug out.

"Let's go to bed," David said, toweling her hair. "You can sleep in my bed with me."

She yawned. "Sounds good."

o0o0o

He woke before her the next morning and started breakfast in his robe. She snuck into the kitchen while he was making chocolate chip pancakes. He nearly jumped when she scraped the barstool across the tile.

"Can I have coffee?" she asked.

He poured her a cup and set it on the counter next to the sugar. "Half and half is in the refrigerator," he said. "You're all dressed up."

"You told me to pack nice clothes," she reminded him.

"I know. I meant more that it was early for you to be dressed for the day."

"Well, I woke up naked, and I felt weird about walking around a strange house like that," she said. "What's for breakfast?"

He flipped two pancakes on her plate next to the eggs and turkey sausage.

"Yum, thanks." She dug in, much to his delight. "Where are we going today?"

"You'll see when we get there."

It was a two hour drive through the Rockies. Ellie stared out the window with a tourist-like admiration of the mountains and valleys. It must still have been fresh for her, after only two months away from Boston.

"How much longer?" she asked when the city began replacing the mountains.

"Fifteen minutes," he said.

"Is that Denver up ahead?"

"Yes."

"I've never actually been to Denver," she said.

"You won't be able to say that after today."

"Hm. I miss the city," she said. "Although I guess we're safer from zombies and atomic bombs where we live, huh?"

"Safer from a lot of things," David said.

"Plus there's good hunting not far from us," Ellie said. "We wouldn't run out of food in a doomsday situation."

"Lots of crazy survival types in Colorado," David agreed. "Probably the best place to be if the world goes to hell."

"Okay, hypothetically, would you eat dog meat to survive?"

"Of course," he said. "In that kind of situation, you do what you have to do to take care of yourself and your family. I'd eat dog meat if it came down to it. Wouldn't you?"

"I don't know," Ellie said. "I want to say I wouldn't, but it's hard to imagine being that hungry. What about other people?"

"I think they'd do the same as you. Say they wouldn't eat the dog, but not be able to know for sure until they were actually in that situation."

She laughed. "No, I meant, would you eat people to stay alive?"

David thought about it. "I guess I would."

Ellie made a face. "Gross. I don't think I could."

"Well, if that day comes, you stick with me," David said, petting her cheek with his index finger. "I'll cook our neighbors up so they taste like venison."

"That's deer, right?"

"Mmhmm. I'll tell you it's deer, if it makes you feel better."

"Gross. But thanks, I think."

She played with her hands for a few minutes, glancing up at him a couple of times like she wanted to say something.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"I just wanted to say thanks," she said. "For taking me on a trip. For breakfast. For everything."

"Of course," David said. "We're friends, aren't we?"

She nodded. "It's just that... uh, my dad used to make me chocolate chip pancakes."

"Ah. When was the last time you saw him?"

"Two years ago." She pulled out the keyboard on her phone and then slammed it back in. "Right before we moved to Boston."

"That's a long time."

"Well, he broke my arm and told my mom he would kill both of us if we told anyone it was him," she said. "It was pretty scary. We didn't have a car, so my mom packed a backpack for each of us, and a neighbor drove us to the bus station while my dad was at work."

He grabbed her fidgeting hand and held it. "That sounds difficult."

"Yeah, it was." She squeezed his hand. "My dad was really mean sometimes."

"Do you miss him, though?"

"No, of course not! I told you, he broke my arm."

"That doesn't mean you can't miss him."

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess I miss him. Not him in a bad mood, but regular him. He used to help me with my homework and tell me I was 'going places.' My mom just thinks I'm stupid. But my dad and I used to go on roadtrips like this. We would play this game where he'd say a state and I'd say the capital."

"I played that with my sister," David said. "We had a pact not to tell anyone, though. Playing with a sibling is bad enough, but God forbid you do something as nerdy as study together."

Ellie shrugged. "I've never had a sibling, so I wouldn't know."

David turned onto the familiar college street, between the brick and wrought iron walls. It looked too different for him to pretend he was going back for fall quarter, but there was still something home-like about it. It was like visiting his childhood bedroom at Thanksgiving, only to find that it had been turned into the guest bedroom his mother had always wanted.

"We're at a college?" Ellie asked.

"My college."

"Whoa! It looks so fancy. And expensive."

"It didn't cost as much when I went here, but they have scholarships."

"I'm too dumb for scholarships."

"Don't talk like that. I think you could get plenty, unless you keep convincing yourself otherwise."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Anyway, don't worry too much about the details today. We're just here for a tour. I want to give you a taste of what's waiting for you at the end of that hell they call high school."

They parked in front of the administrative building, and Ellie's mouth fell open.

"Holy shit! It looks like a castle! And there are so many trees here!"

'Yeah, they're big on trees here."

"I didn't expect it so close to the city." Ellie unbuckled her seatbelt. "This is fucking gorgeous."

Three hours later, Ellie seemed to be in love.

"That dorm was like an apartment!" she gushed, pulling on the sweatshirt he'd bought for her. "And I loved the professor who taught that class about Harry Potter! Where do I tell my mom this sweatshirt came from, though?"

"Tell her the college sent it to you to try to recruit you," David said.

"Ha!" Ellie pulled the price tag off. "I doubt she'll believe that. But if she does, it'll make her year."

"You want to visit the observatory?" David asked, gesturing to the locked door.

"But it's closed, right?"

David glanced around before leaning on a section of wall. It swung open, just as he remembered.

"How did you do that?!"

"I worked here part time for three years," he said. "Come on, I want to show you a secret."

He led her up the narrow stairs to the lighting booth. It was dark, lit only by the screensaver bouncing around the computer screen.

Ellie peered through the glass into the room below. "Wow," she said. "Is that where people watch the shows?"

"Yes."

"Think anyone will walk in on us up here?"

"I seriously doubt it," he said. "What are you thinking?"

"You went down on me last night." She dropped onto her knees and nuzzled her face, kittenlike, against his zipper. "My turn." She fumbled with his buckle. "Okay, I've never done this before, so sorry in advance if it sucks."

"Do you want to figure it out on your own, or do you want me to teach you?" David asked.

"You can teach me."

He put his hand on the back of her neck. "When you first start, you can tease it a little. Use your tongue, your hand." He cupped his hand over hers. "Perfect. Lord, you work tongue like you've done this before."

She beamed with pride. "Only on girls."

He imagined her face buried between the legs of another teenage girl and shivered from the thought. "All right, now I want you to put your hands behind your back. Yes, just like that. Is it okay if I put my hand on your throat?"

She nodded.

"I like to take charge once I'm good and hard," he said. "Keep your hands behind your back and try not to move them."

"Do I still need to worry about my tongue?"

"No, just try to keep your mouth tight around me and your teeth out of the way. Ready?"

She nodded again. He tightened his grip around her skinny white throat. Her throat contracted under his thumb as she swallowed. She looked equally turned on and terrified, the hottest expression David had ever seen. He pulled her against him until she choked and tried to pull her face away. Despite her panic, she obediently kept her arms behind her back the whole time. He pulled her away by her ponytail, and she looked up at him with watery eyes.

"You're doing good, Ellie," he breathed. "Hang in there while I finish."

A few moments later, he leaned against the shelf to catch his breath. Ellie wiped her eyes and nose, coughing daintily into the back of her hand.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Other than being painfully turned on?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm good."

A door slammed somewhere in the building, making both of them jump.

"Ready for lunch?" David asked. He reached for his phone to check the time and frowned when he couldn't find it. He patted the rest of his pockets, trying to remember when he'd last had it.

"Looking for something?" Ellie held up his phone.

"How did you get that?" He grabbed it back from her.

She laughed. "I used to practice magic tricks all the time. As soon as I got down on my knees, you stopped paying attention to everything except my mouth. I wish everyone was as easy to pickpocket as you."

He jerked her ponytail playfully. "You know I'm going to punish you for that little display of sleight of hand when we get back."

She grinned. "I was kind of counting on it."

The dining hall was serving both pizza and macaroni and cheese for lunch, which Ellie mentioned three times during the meal alone.

"Yes, they serve pizza every day, lunch and dinner," David said. "I think all colleges do. Oh! I have to introduce you to someone." He jumped up and tapped on the shoulder of a short man with pure white hair in a blue suit.

"Dr. Ashburn?"

The man turned around and threw his hands up. "David! It's been years. How have you been?"

They exchanged a brief, manly hug.

"I've been excellent," David said. "I'm up for library director in January. I don't think I'll take it, though. I enjoy working the desk too much. In fact, that's how I met Ellie." He gestured to Ellie, who quickly put down her slice of pizza and wiped her hands on a brown paper napkin.

"Hello," Dr. Ashburn shook her hand. "Charles Ashburn."

"Ellie Williams," she introduced herself.

"I've been, uh, tutoring her." David fought the urge to wipe Ellie's face with a napkin. He hoped the small patch of shininess on her cheek was from lunch, rather than the observatory.

"Nice to meet you." Ellie smiled at Dr. Ashburn. "So, you're a professor?"

"Yes, English literature."

"That's my best subject!" Ellie leaned forward. "So, inside scoop: how hard are the classes here?"

"It depends on the class, the professor, and the student," Dr. Ashburn said. "But in general, if you make good grades in high school and can think critically, you'll do just fine here. What grade are you in?"

"Ninth."

"Good. You have plenty of time to get ready," he said. "A lot of teenagers these days slack off during high school and come to college completely unprepared, if they can get in at all. I doubt anyone visiting colleges in ninth grade will have trouble with that, though. And of course, a letter from a successful alum always goes a long way."

"Good to know," Ellie said. "Thanks!"

"Of course." Dr. Ashburn nodded to her and shook David's hand. "It was good to see you again, David. Send me an email some time. I'd love to catch up more, but I have a one o'clock class."

"Definitely," David said. "Have a nice weekend."

"I can't believe he still knew your name," Ellie said as the professor walked away.

"Of course he does," David said. "I bet he remembers all of his students' names, if they took enough classes with him. I'm more surprised he still teaches. So, what do you think of my alma mater?"

"I like it," she said. "But I have a favor to ask."

"Anything," David said.

"When we get back, will you tie me to a chair until I finish my Algebra homework?"

He wiped her cheek with a napkin. "I think we can make that happen."


	3. Chapter 3

On Halloween, David sat in his car at the end of Ellie's street, pretending to be reading a road map in the fading sunlight. At 6:45, Ellie's mother's station wagon pulled out of the driveway. He watched it struggle to the top of the hill, pause at the stop sign, and turn left. When it was out of sight, he pulled into the driveway and knocked on the front door.

"Wow, good timing," Ellie said as she opened the door. "My mom literally just walked out. You want to come in?"

"Thanks."

He'd never been inside Ellie's home before. It was a lot dirtier than he'd expected. Dishes, mostly cereal bowls, were piled on every surface in the living room. Presumably, they were the reason the whole place smelled vaguely of sour milk. Books cascaded out of Ellie's open backpack onto the coffee table. Worn socks and still-laced tennis shoes were strewn across the dirty floor. He followed Ellie upstairs to her bedroom.

"Sorry it's so messy," Ellie said, moving a pile of clothes from her bed to her desk and pulling the covers straight. "I'm not exactly a neat freak."

"So I see."

She stood in front of her mirrored closet doors and rubbed blush into her cheeks with her fingers.

"Where does your mom think you're going tonight?"

"I told her some kids at school invited me to a church party," she said. "She didn't ask too many questions."

"What time do I need to have you home?"

Her reflection grinned at him. "I almost forgot to tell you. She's working half of a coworker's shift, so she won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. I was thinking I could sleep over at your place, if that's okay."

"Of course it is."

"Great!" She tossed her already-packed duffel onto the bed.

"And tomorrow's a Saturday," he said.

"Yup. I love when Halloween is on the weekend."

"Is French toast okay for breakfast?" he asked.

"Yeah, totally." She winced at her reflection as she tried to stab an earring through the scar tissue in her ear. "You look really awesome, by the way."

"You look amazing, too," he said. "I was trying to think of a way to say it without sounding like a child predator."

"I think we're a little past that point. Just tell me I look hot and you want to do me."

He stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. Her head barely passed his ribcage.

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever met." He leaned down to kiss her neck. "Sex with you is a spiritual experience. If you told me you were a sex goddess disguised as a high school student, I wouldn't doubt you for a moment."

Her face and neck went bright red at that. She cleared her throat and went back to stabbing her ear. "You're so full of shit," she said. "But thanks."

"Here, let me help you with those before you hurt yourself."

"No! It's gross." She wrinkled her nose at her reflection. "I haven't worn earrings in forever. There will probably be blood. Trust me, you don't want to even watch."

"Sure I do. I actually think it would be incredibly exciting to- no, I shouldn't tell you."

"What?!"

He took the earring from her. "No, it'll scare you."

"So what?! Tell me! Pleeeeaaaaase?"

He pulled her earlobe taught and wiggled the hook through the scar. "One of my biggest fantasies is piercing a girl's nipples."

"Do you know how?"

"Oh, definitely, but I've never found a girl who would let me." Which wasn't to say David had never done it; he just wanted to know what it felt like to do it without the duct tap and crying and begging.

Ellie covered her breasts through her dress. "I don't know. That sounds intense."

"Oh, I didn't mean to suggest you should be the girl," David said. "It's just one of those fantasies."

The kind of fantasy he'd make sure she had the privilege of experiencing, one way or another. But that was a thought for another day. He thrust the second hoop through her other ear, drawing a few drops of blood.

"Phew," she said. "That was a bitch. I need to remember to wear my studs more often. Sorry about the blood."

"I think it adds to your costume." He wiped the blood on her neck and then licked her skin clean.

"Gross!" she laughed. "That's disgusting. You could catch hepatitis from me. How is that sexy for you?"

David affected a terrible Transylvanian accent. "'There is a reason why all things are as they are.'"

"I should have memorized some Lucy quotes, huh?" Ellie turned and stood on her toes to kiss him.

David lost himself in the kiss. For a moment, he forgot all about the messy bedroom and the party they were late for and the risk of Ellie's mom returning home unexpectedly to grab something she'd forgotten. All he could think about was the obscene way Ellie's lips parted for his tongue, the way her hands felt on his chest, the way- damn, the way her hands felt on places other than his chest.

"We don't have to go to the party," Ellie breathed. "We could go to your place and watch a horror movie. Naked."

He teased her lip with his finger. "As tempting as that is, I think we should go to the party. You're only young once. I'm boring enough as it is. I don't want to be the reason you don't go to a party. Besides, I think it'll be fun."

"If you say so." Ellie carefully applied lipgloss, pouting her lips at her mirror self. "Okay, we look really fucking good. We should take a selfie."

David reached for his phone, but she was already holding it up.

"Okay, now, that time I wasn't even distracted," he said. "How did you get that?"

She grinned, putting her mask on. "Uh, I used to shoplift a lot. Just little stuff, with my girlfriend, for fun. Don't tell anyone, please?"

"I won't."

"Pretend like you're biting my neck," Ellie said.

He obliged, and she gave a soft moan as she snapped the picture.

"Okay, normal picture," she said. "Put your head next to mine." She clicked another picture. "Ew, what am I doing with my mouth in that one? One more."

"That's good," David said. "We should get to the party before all the booze is gone."

When they arrived, James scowled in Ellie's direction, but he didn't say anything. David introduced Ellie as a college freshman to a few people he recognized as James' grad school friends, and then he left her to mingle while he talked to James in the empty kitchen.

"Okay, the usual rules apply," James said. "If the cops show up, you told me she was eighteen and I told you she wasn't allowed to drink. Oh, also, guest bedroom is off limits. I told a buddy of mine he could use it if his date went well, and he's already gotten four drinks into her, so you're gonna have to find somewhere else to turn into a crime scene."

"You make me sound like a serial killer," David said.

"Hey, girls dig that shit," James said. "College girls, anyway. Man, I think Raven is only fucking me for my Netflix password. If she asks me to Saran-wrap her to the table, I'm dumping her. After the sex, I mean. She's so good in bed I'd let her call me Dexter at least once. I don't know what your target audience is into, though."

David took a sip of his beer and glanced at Ellie across the room. "Vampires and attention."

"Vampires? Really? I would have guessed she hated Twilight."

"She does," David said. "She's a purist. That's why she's dressed up as Lucy Westenra."

"Ohhh. That explains the corset. No offense, I just thought she had some daddy issues."

"That too." David smirked. "I forgot to tell you: she jumped me before I even took her to the college. New record. I owe a big thank you to her dad."

"Right, how could I forget?" James rolled his eyes. "You only go for the kinky, emotionally damaged types who still have their baby teeth. What's her story, then? The usual, 'Daddy doesn't hug me enough' deal?"

"He broke her arm. It sounds like she and her mom are out here to get away from him."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. Between that and her low self-esteem, she's perfect."

"Whatever floats your boat," James said. "But in case you were wondering, these conversations are the main reason you've never met my niece."

David laughed. "Fair enough. Listen, I'm going to get back to her. She's a little clingy."

"Yeah, I noticed." James waved him off.

Ellie was laughing with the grad students, but she rushed to David's side when he emerged from the kitchen.

"We should dance!" she said. "When are we ever gonna get the chance to slow dance in public again?'

The song playing over the Bluetooth speakers was indeed a slow one. David bowed to Ellie, kissing her hand, and led her to where the others were dancing in the space that anyone but James and his housemates would have used for a dining room.

"This is pretty fucking romantic," Ellie remarked. "I just wish I knew how to dance."

"It's okay," David said. "No one is doing anything fancy. Just sway a little, like everyone else is doing."

She gazed up at him, a little smile on her lips.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I'm happy I'm here. With you."

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. No one shrieked or gasped in horror. He kissed her again, more deeply, and she pulled his face to hers.

"I feel like we're gonna get in trouble," she murmured when they surfaced for air.

"Me too. No one is even paying attention to us, though."

She rested her head on his chest. "You're gonna think I'm stupid, but... What's your favorite thing about me?"

He almost rolled his eyes. He wondered whether all teenagers were this needy, or just the ones he got involved with.

"Your intelligence," he said. "I fell for you when you were analyzing books like an English major. I realized, 'Damn, this girl is an adult trapped in a teenager's body.'"

"Wow, really?"

"Yes. Now, what's you favorite thing about me?"

"Aside from the sex?"

He laughed into her hair. "Sure."

"Um... I like how you touch me, like you're doing now. I've never felt scared around you."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes I get nervous around people, if they're angry or waving their hands around or grabbing me. But I feel completely safe around you."

"Thanks." He embraced her. "That means a lot."

They rocked gently to the haunting melody that didn't seem to have words. David tried not to wince at the loudness. When the song switched to another slow tune, Ellie stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"Okay, I know we can't do this, but I really, really wish..."

"What?"

"I wish we could fuck here, at the party. Like if we could sneak into a closet and do it. Or, fuck it, we could go to the graveyard. I have some Buffy fantasies I'd love to try out."

"It's too cold for that."

"I know," she said. "I just really want to feel your cock inside me again. It's all I've been able to think about since that weekend. I get so fucking wet thinking about it. And doing it with so many people around... fuck. That would be so hot."

David stood up straight, looking around James' house for an escape route other than the guest bedroom. Remembering the finished basement, he tugged on her hand until she followed him down the musty, creaky stairs. It was dimly lit, but that only inspired Ellie to hold his hand a little tighter.

"We should have some privacy here," he said. "I don't think most of James' guests know it exists."

He carried her into the bathroom, kissing her all the way. As he set her on the counter, he locked the door and pushed the layers of satin and mesh up her legs. She helped by starting her panties down her legs. He tucked the cotton underpants into one of his pockets and fumbled for a condom in another. Lord, she really was wet. He slipped two fingers inside her to warm her up.

"Oh, god!" She threw her head back, banging it into the mirror. "Fuck me already!"

He draped each of her legs over his respective arms and mentally apologized for turning James' bathroom counter into a crime scene. He nibbled at her neck, vampire-style, and she dug her nails into his sleeves. It only took a few minutes to make Ellie come so hard she broke a light fixture with her head.

When they were both satisfied and a little wobbly, David grabbed the base of the condom and pulled out. The contents dribbled out from the tip, spilling onto her dress and the counter top.

"Shit!" he said under his breath.

Ellie raised her head. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said. "Don't worry about it. Are you ready to go back to my place and take a hot bath?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "That sounds totally great."

"I'm still a fan of that naked movie idea," he said, surreptitiously wiping evidence off her dress with his hand. "Maybe some naked laundry."

"Ew, laundry." She slid off the counter with his help.

"You can distract me while I fold it," David said. "Let's get out of here, sweetheart."

o0o0o

Until it was once again being warmed by Ellie's body heat, David hadn't realized how cold his bed had been the past two weeks. Holding Ellie's fragile little body while she slept was magical, like holding his sister's warm, wriggling hamsters. The main difference was that he had to be more careful with Ellie; he no longer had a boa constrictor to blame if he gave in and squeezed the life out of her. After a half dozen orgasms, Ellie slept like a corpse, as oblivious to her predicament as she was to her damp hair.

When David woke, Ellie was gone. He was surprised she'd managed to sneak away without waking him. Maybe it was her knack for sleight of hand.

He found her in the living room, staring out the window and sniffling while one of his darker CD's played on the stereo above the television.

"Ellie?"

"Hey." She wiped her eyes on the cuff of her hoodie. "Sorry, I'm a snoop. You have good taste in music, though."

"Thanks." He sat down next to her, pulling her onto his lap. "Are you all right?"

"I'm great. Why do you ask?"

He collected the wetness from her eyes. "I worry when a pretty girl is crying over Interpol at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning. What's the matter?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"I get it," he said. "You don't trust me. That's okay."

"No! Fuck, that's not it at all." She rubbed her fingers over his stubble. "I couldn't sleep this morning, so I've just been up thinking. It's no big deal. Maybe I have PMS. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay." He kissed her pinky. "Anything I can do to make you feel better?"

She shook her head and curled up on his lap. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure."

"It's something really stupid I did. I don't think my mom will ever forgive me for it."

He stroked her hair. "I won't judge you for it."

"I'm the reason we moved," she said with a sniff. "From Boston, I mean. I sent my dad a letter, like, just getting some things off my chest, and he fucking found us. I didn't even put a return address on it, but he figured it out and showed up at my aunt's house. It was my fault my mom had to quit her job and move out here. She hates it here, and she hates her new job, and I think she hates me. I fucked up big time."

"No, Ellie." He kissed her forehead. "I think it's reasonable for a girl to miss her father. It's your mother's fault for not letting you talk to him."

"But he threatened to kill us!"

"Everyone says things they don't mean when they're angry or scared." He rubbed her back. "Think about how you'd feel if you came home one day and your mother was just gone. No note, no forwarding address, no cell phone. Now imagine you had a kid, and your mom kidnapped her without letting you say goodbye to her."

"You think my mom was wrong?" She leaned her head on his shoulder. "She should have stayed with my dad?"

"She could have gotten a divorce. People make mistakes, but it doesn't sound like your dad was evil. I can't imagine he deserved to never see his daughter ever again. Do you think he deserved that?"

She stared at the ceiling, her eyes moving slightly in thought. "I don't know," she said at last. "My mom has never lied to me, not even about Santa Claus. If she says my dad would hurt us, I believe her."

"I'm not calling her a liar," David said. "She might honestly believe your dad would kill her. That doesn't make it true, though."

She looked into his face, her lips moving slightly as her brain worked to process that. After a moment, she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Maybe you're right."

"Listen, Ellie, I need to tell you something." David put his hand on her knee. "It's important, but I don't want you to be upset, all right? I'll take care of it as soon as the store opens. Last night-"

A knock on the door interrupted him. He frowned, trying to figure out who would be disturbing him before breakfast on a Saturday.

Ellie peeked out the window and gasped. "Oh shit!" she whispered, dropping onto her hands and knees on the floor. "It's my mom!"

"What?! How would she know you're here?"

"She probably fucking tracked my phone!" Ellie tossed it to him. "Shit! Um, say that you found my phone at the library yesterday and took it home. I'll go out the back."

David tied his robe and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before answering the door. In front of him stood a curvy woman a few inches taller than Ellie. She had the same auburn ponytail, albeit with a few more grays than Ellie, and the early makings of frown lines wrinkled the corners of her mouth. She was wearing a white turtleneck under her blue scrubs.

"May I help you?" David asked.

"Hi, I'm really sorry to bother you so early, but I'm looking for my daughter." She held up her phone, which displayed a picture of a somewhat younger Ellie grinning in front of a Christmas tree and holding up a box set of the Harry Potter series. "Have you seen her?"

"Oh, you mean Ellie?" David said. "Yes, I see her all the time. She practically lives at the library."

"The library?"

"Yes. I'm the daytime librarian." He held out his hand. "David."

"Anna." She looked him up and down. "So you're telling me Ellie spends her free time at the library?"

"Oh, definitely. She comes in every day after school to read and get help with her homework."

"Ellie doing homework?" Anna raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure she's not the one setting up pranks or stealing things?"

"I don't think so," David said. "She seems like a very polite, intelligent young woman. You must be proud of her. A lot of parents claim their children read at a college level, but I can tell from talking to Ellie that she really does. She even volunteers a few times a week. She's the best storytime reader we've ever had."

"Oh." Anna seemed completely caught off guard. "Well, that's great, but she's missing. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday, I think?" he said. "Oh! I almost forgot. She left her phone at the library. Will you make sure she gets it back?" He handed over Ellie's phone.

"If I ever find her, I will," Anna said. "This might sound a little strange, but how well do you know Ellie?"

David sensed a trap. "Not very well. I know what books she likes. I know she hates math. And I know she's got her heart set on a couple of private colleges, which is why she's trying to bring her grades up."

"Well, you know more than I do," Anna said. "She's completely shut me out since we moved here. It doesn't help that I'm stuck on the graveyard shift. I've gotta admit, I have no idea where kids go to get into trouble around here. Do you have any idea where Ellie might be? Is there a place kids go to, I dunno, smoke pot and vandalize things?"

"There's a cemetery a mile or so up the road." David gestured. "That doesn't sound like Ellie at all, though."

"That's nice of you to say, but she's kind of a handful." Anna rubbed her temples. "Always in trouble. Maybe she could use a decent father figure."

David almost did a double take when Ellie snuck out of the brush three houses down, wearing her jeans, tennis shoes, and college hoodie. She strolled up to her mother like she'd been walking for miles.

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you! Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been looking everywhere for my fucking phone," Ellie said, her face flushing slightly. "I lost it yesterday, and I know you work too hard for me to waste money, so I was trying to find it."

"All night?"

"Yes! And the last place I remember having it was the library, so I looked up the librarian's address in the phone book and came here to ask if he would please open up the library for me to look for it, even though it's Sunday." Ellie turned her attention to David. "Hi, sorry, Mr. Carver. You haven't seen my phone by any chance, have you?"

Anna held up the phone. "You are not getting this back until you tell me what you've really been up to."

"I just told you!"

"You expect me to believe that you were out all night on Halloween looking for your phone? Yeah, right. You're grounded."

"What?! But I didn't do anything wrong!" Ellie crossed her arms. "You are such a fucking hypocrite! I didn't do anything!"

"Just because the police didn't catch you doesn't mean you didn't do anything. I'd bet a hundred bucks you were the one who egged Principal Johnson's car and house last night."

"I swear it wasn't me!"

"Well, you probably deserve to be grounded for something, then. We're going home." Anna grabbed Ellie's arm and yanked her forward.

"Mom..." Ellie's voice lost all its venom, leaving her sounding like a frightened child. Her face had gone white, contrasting sharply with her crimson sweatshirt.

Anna stopped and hugged her. "Shit, I'm sorry, Ellie. I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay," Ellie said into her mom's shoulder. "Am I still grounded?"

"Yeah, big time," Anna said. "But I think I have enough energy for breakfast at Denny's before I crash. You hungry?"

Ellie nodded.

David watched their exchange with interest. "Sorry for all the trouble," he said.

"No, thank you for your help," Anna said. "I appreciate you looking out for Ellie like that."

"Any time," he said. "Take care, now. Hope to see you back at the library soon, Ellie."

As soon as they were gone, David dressed and brushed his hair. It would be even trickier to get Ellie the pills now that she was grounded, but he'd find a way. The sooner they could put this ordeal behind them, the better he'd sleep.

He drove to the local drugstore and picked up the box from the pharmacy, ignoring the judgmental look from his cashier. As he was leaving, a young, pimply faced police officer approached him.

"Excuse me, sir. Could you please come with me?"

"Of course," David said, fighting the urge to flee.

"Could I please see some identification?" the officer asked.

David handed over his driver's license. The cop half turned from him, muttering the information into the radio on his shoulder. David swung the small plastic bag as he waited. A car pulled out of its space and drove off.

The police officer suddenly raised his gun on David. "Sir, I need you to put your hands behind your back."

David did as he was told. "Am I being detained, officer?"

"Uh, yes sir."

"What are the charges?"

"Felony s-sexual assault of a minor," the officer said, leading David to an unmarked black sedan with a government license.

David swore internally, trying to figure out how he'd gotten caught. It was possible that Ellie's mother had somehow uncovered the details, but it was a lot more likely that he'd been ratted out by one of his many jilted exes. He couldn't imagine which one would have ignored his threats and gone to the police. He tried to recall what the officer had said. Since it was a felony rather than a misdemeanor, he could rule out the handful of girls who had been fifteen when he'd met them. That narrowed it down to around two dozen possibilities.

Well, at least it was only sexual assault, and the officer had only said _a_ minor. That might get David a few years, if he hired an incompetent lawyer. As long as they didn't dig up any of his other girls, especially not literally, he would be fine.

"Um, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." The cop shoved David into the backseat, which was separated from the front by a grate. The door slammed shut.

"You do know there's more to the Miranda rights than that?" David asked through the window, searching the car for all the standard police equipment.

He sniffed. Something about the car smelled incredibly familiar, like glitter-soaked strawberries and vanilla. The scent made him equal parts nostalgic and erect.

The cop jumped into the driver's seat and started the car. "Holy shit, I can't believe that worked!" He said, his voice cracking.

"Just hurry," a familiar voice said from the front seat. "If my uncle finds out we used his car to kidnap someone, we're fucked."

"No one will ever know," the 'police officer' assured her. "It's the perfect crime, baby."

"Yeah, yeah," the girl said.

"Hello again, Katelyn," David said. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"You know what?" Katelyn turned around, earrings jangling, to glare at him. "We have a long drive ahead of us. Why don't you look out the window and play the 'Shut the Fuck Up' game?"

David laughed. "I'm glad to hear your mouth is just as dirty as always. What's new, sweetheart?"

"I'm getting married," Katelyn said. "And you're paying for it."

"Is that so? I would have saved more if I'd known."

"Whatever you've got will be plenty." She pointed a gun at him, seemingly unaware that the safety was on and her finger was nowhere near the trigger.

"So this is just a robbery?"

"I don't know," Katelyn said. "I'm feeling pretty hormonal. There might be some battery involved later."

David chuckled at his good fortune as teenage boy shot the car into reverse.


End file.
